25: Burning

Lucy was breathing heavily as she leaned against a wall to catch her breath. Her gut was seizing and her legs were feeling weak. While she knew that she could not boast of the superhuman physical ability of the other mages in Fairy Tail, surely she was not in that bad a condition. The past hours must have left her drained, not to mentioned that now her stomach was growling something fierce.

"I wish I had some food…" She sighed melancholically, as she forced herself to move forward, even if all her muscles were screaming otherwise.

The rumble of the castle walls around her had spooked her, and the Celestial spirit mage wondered what was going on. She didn't doubt that it was most likely her guild who had come to retrieve her, but the thought of Natsu battling without his magic frightened her. Their enemies had not proven themselves particularly prone to negotiation and the knowledge that at least one of them was using some form of Lost magic was troubling to say the least. Not to mention that Droy…

She gritted her teeth before her mind could stray any more downhill. "Have to keep moving."

A sudden shockwave rippled through the edifice again, and Lucy cried out when an ominous crackling sound resounded from the floor beneath her. Clutching onto a tapestry that hung from the walls, nervous amber eyes dropped downward as she watched for any lines of weakness in the slabs that could suddenly give way. While the ground held itself together, the light lacrima that had been affixed onto the walls slipped from their brackets and splintered on the ground, throwing the corridor into a semi-pitch black darkness. The way up ahead was suddenly lost in the shadows and a fearful shudder ran up her arms.

At that moment though, a familiar cry in the distance caught her attention and her head sprang up again, scanning the darkness ahead of her.

"Hello?"

"… cy! If… hear us…!"

She reached a hand out, gingerly, for she kept one hand against a wall for balance. The tremors had yet to cease. "Guys?"

"Lu… … us!" To her horror, the voices sounded as though they were moving further away, and a very real panic seized her mind in a vice.

"Guys! I'm here! Don't-!"

"Found you!"

"Kyaaaa!"

The blonde jumped and leapt backwards, her limbs scrambling madly across the floor. The hand had come out from within the shadows, a single disjointed arm, and at that point of time, her mind and imagination was so tightly wound that that single touch had sent fear rippling down her spine.

"Who's there?!"

"Relax, Lucy. It's just me."

"Who…"

The blonde squinted into the darkness, watching as the male figure slowly emerged into the light. At the sight of his face, the blonde let out a squeal of happiness and instantly clambered to her feet.

The one thing that he knew he had an advantage over his doppelganger was his nose. Queen Bitch herself had revealed that her camouflage magic was unable to replicate the skills and magic of the original individual. Safe to say that Shadow Natsu was unable to sniff Lucy out unlike how he was able to.

Another plus point was that he had his magic back. Exhilaration surged through him as the dragon slayer pulled his clenched fingers through the air, grinning when claws of flames licked the space around him. How that had happened he had no idea, but who cared?

"Lucy! Can you hear me?!"

The sound of the castle walls rumbling around him echoed throughout the never ending labyrinth, and Natsu winced when his voice was drowned out. Perhaps the damage that he had done was more severe than he had thought. The dusty, wet scent of mildew accumulated from years of disrepair hung low in the air, impeding his sense of smell but that did not deter him.

To him, Lucy's scent was something that stood out above all else. The scent of her hair, her skin, the very essence of her being, distilled into one very distinct sweet aroma that intoxicated him. There was simply no way that he would miss her scent. Even now, he could smell her over the rest of the scents in the air. She had definitely come by this corridor some time recent.

"Lucy!"

"Salamander!"

"Gajeel! You guys managed to get out! Where… are the others?"

"We decided to split up, we'd cover more ground that way."

"Yeah, and thanks to that, I'm full now." The black dragon slayer rubbed his belly with a satisfied smirk. "Ready to kick some ass. Where's Bunny – girl, have you found her?"

Apprehension filled him as he slowed down. "She's not with you guys?"

Levy shook her head. "We were hoping that you had found her… is something the matter? You look a little pale."

"Yeah well… that's cause we have trouble. Big trouble."

"… …"

"You're saying there's a second you running around the place?"

"Was Droy ok?"

"I don't know." Natsu replied, scratching his head. "The shadow was still in control of him. He didn't look injured though…"

"We don't yet know what the effects of prolonged possession are. Not to mention that I'm still unable to find out anything more about Sphere magic. Which brings me to my second question… Natsu, the girl whom you defeated, that Lora, she uses Sphere magic right?"

"Yeah. The invisible barrier without runes, you said so yourself."

"I thought so." Levy chewed her lip, a tic she indulged in whenever she was in deep thought. "After witnessing her ability up close in the dungeon, I realized just now that we had made a mistake. That it was she who was the Sphere mage, not the one possessing Droy."

"But that's not right." Jet noted. "Droy himself mentioned that Vasuta confirmed that she was a Sphere mage. Does this mean two of them survived?"

Levy nodded, then instantly paled. Turning towards the fire dragon slayer, she continued in an anxious voice. "Natsu, about Lora, did you knock her out?"

"I think so. But I saw her hands come out to protect herself when the rubble collapsed on her, so I'm not 100% sure either."

"We need to regroup."

"What? Levy-"

"Natsu, if we take into account that there are two Sphere mages out there, and the others don't yet know…"

The pinkette paled immediately, and a look of understanding fell upon his face the same time as it did for Erza.

"If she's still active, then someone else is at risk of being possessed."

"We need to hurry."

"Leave it to us." The dragon slayers turned towards the space around them and started sniffing.

"Araya – sama, this area is no longer completely safe. Please come with us to the West quarters where the building foundation is still stable."

"And the vat?"

"We have already made arrangements to move it, my lady."

"Good. Then let us move. Oh yes, and what news do you have of Vasuta?"

"She's already found the Celestial Spirit mage, my lady."

Arayaleina laughed and let herself be led down from the throne upon which she reclined. "That's my girl."

"I'm so glad that I found you. I was beginning to freak out." Lucy sighed, as she clasped onto her companion's upper arm, the warmth from his bare skin calming her heart.

"Only just beginning to?" The male laughed. "I could have sworn that I heard your heart beating from two miles away."

"Geez, don't tease me Gray." She whacked his arm playfully. "So you guys chose to separate?"

"Yeah. The guys from Sabertooth ran off to look for the Queen. Sting was raging about beating her ass up. Levy, Jet, and Gajeel decided to stick together. Erza and I had been moving together but we decided to split up when the castle walls started falling apart. Didn't seem like we had much time left." He shrugged. "And you, did you manage to meet up with Natsu?"

"Natsu? He's not with you guys?"

"No, he was called to- oh, Natsu. There you are."

As usual, whenever she saw the fire dragon slayer's grinning face, Lucy's heart would go pitter patter, and this was certainly no exception. Ignoring Gray's teasing smirk, the blonde dashed forward and leapt up into the pinkette's outstretched arms.

"I've missed you." She smiled as she leaned back to look at him.

His smile lit up her mood. "Same here."

Gray's sardonic voice broke in. "Well, if you guys are done ogling each other, maybe we should move on before we are buried alive here?"

Lucy gave awkward giggle while Natsu simply shrugged. The pink haired dragon slayer gestured to a corridor on their left. "Let's go this way. It's a shortcut."

"But that's where we came from...are you sure about that?"

"Has this nose ever failed you before?" The male replied simply. "C'mon Lucy. Gray."

The path that they were headed down got distinctly brighter as they slowly moved out of the area of the previous battle, and the light lacrimas were still functional. It also got a lot quieter and a strange nervousnew started to nag at the blonde. A quick glance at Gray told her that she was not alone in that sentiment.

"Hey, shitty flame." Gray piped up. "Are you sure that your nose is working? We seem to be headed further and further into the castle."

"Learn to trust me a little more, Gray." Came the reply. "I'm not going to let my two precious friends get lost."

"Ugh. Why the hell are you talking to me like that..." Gray shuddered. "Who the hell is your precious friend?"

Natsu turned partway around, his expression exasperated as he regarded the other male. "Just trying to be nice. God knows this hellhole needs more of that and... Gray?"

"Who the hell are you?"

The ice mage had pulled Lucy away from Natsu's side and was now tucking the blonde behind himself almost protectively. The brunette then brought his fists against each other, and there was a steady whirring sound in the air as iced particles starting collecting around his hands, all the while watching the pinkette with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.

"Answer my question."

"Gray, why are you kidding around now? C'mon, we have to go." Natsu laughed as he reached an arm towards them, only to pause when the Ice mage increased the pressure of his magic. Lucy patted at his bicep as she watched the strange exchange. "Gray?"

"Lucy, stay back. Flame face... Natsu Dragneel, doesn't talk like that."

"Well, he does sound a bit odd but...Natsu?"

Lucy's attention had been snatched away by an odd sound echoing throughout the narrow corridor - the sound of Natsu laughing. It was an unfamiliar sound in a familiar voice, for Natsu's laughter never held such a cold feeling to it.

"That was fast," Natsu chuckled, as he lifted hand to shield his eyes from view. "I had expected my cover to blown in the end, but you guys really surprise me!"

When he brought down his hand again, the mocking gleam in his eyes turned Lucy's blood cold. "What gave me away?"

"Easy." Gray replied. "The real Natsu would never be this sickeningly sweet, and he'd rather die than call me a friend. To anyone."

"Well darn." Natsu teased. "Looks like Droy has a rather skewed impression of how you guys talk to each other."

"We don't really run in the same circles. I'm guesing you're Vasuta then? Nice to see you possessing yet another one of us."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Your barbaric friend is fine, though against Lora without his magic, I'm not sure if I could call him that anymore... This is just a little thing Araya - sama cobbled together. Think of it as me wearing a Natsu skin over a Droy skin."

"Sounds like you have issues." Gray laughed, before flinging a spear of ice at the pinkette. The false Natsu dodged it easily and turned a sardonic grin at the brunette. "You're not worrying about your friend's body? Personally I don't mind if you do attack me but the one getting injured is Droy."

"He's right Gray, you can't do anything too drastic."

"On the other hand," Natsu laughed, "I have full access to Droy's magic." He opened his fist to reveal small brown seeds, the same ones that the Plant magic mage kept in his hitane. "Chain plants!"

"Lucy, run!"

"Kyaaaa! Oroshitte! Let me down, Nats-! I mean, Vasuta! The robe is... my legs! GRAY, DON'T LOOK!"

"I'm not! Ice lance!"

A single swipe severed the plants that kept the blonde dangling in midair. Lucy clutched her robe to herself like a strait jacket. Glancing at her companion, she asked in a tinyvoice. "Did you see...?"

Gray merely turned away, although there was a distinct blush on his cheeks. "We'll talk about that later." Ignoring Lucy's mortified shriek, he leapt away to deal with the other plants dancing in the air. Lucy's warning cry rang out a split second before the male found himself being pulled down toward the ground, a vicious vine wrapped round his ankle. At the same moment, Natsu's voice rang out again.

"Knuckle plant!"

Lucy hated her helplessness, but with neither her whip nor her set of keys, she was unable to assist Gray. There had to be some way she could help him. What was it that the other Fairy Tail mages said she was good for?

"Gray, freeze him!" She winced as she watche'd him almost get pummeled into the ground.

"What was that?"

"Freeze him!"

"Easier said than done," he groaned as a plant vine threatened to asphyxiate him. "There are too many of these suckers!"

"Damn i!" Lucy picked up broken pieces of the collapsed stone slabs and started flinging them at Natsu. "Hey, bitch!" Good Mavis, she could not believe that she had just called him that! If the real Natsu was here...

Just as she had hoped, a couple of the vines immediately started rushing at her instead, freeing up the Ice mage enough for him to slam his fists together. Squeezing her eyes shut, Lucy started when she felt a vine tip brush her skin before it fell limply to the ground.

Opening her eyes, she was momentarily taken back at the sight before her eyes - Natsu Dragneel locked in a glass casing of ice. she breathed a sigh when the male remarked that he had left breathing slits. She broke a smile when Gray added that he was thoroughly enjoying the sight before him.

"Well, shall we go?"

"We can't just leave Droy here!"

"I can't do anything about him now. We should at least look for the others."

"I guess you're right... perhaps we should head this way." Lucy turned leftward only to freeze partway, her face turning pale. "Gray... I... I can't move. My legs..."

The sight of her skin, now a mottled grey drained the colour from Lucy's face, and she turned back to look at the ice casing. The sight of Droy, frozen in the crystalline structure, made her gasp. As if in reply, there was a young female voice.

"I was planning on doing this peacefully, but now that it has come to this, I'm just going to do this the hard way. I apologize in advance. Possession is not a particularly fun experience." The voice laughed.

"Gray, freeze me!"

"Then I'd have to leave you here! That's too risky considering!"

The shadow was climbing up her thighs now.

"Stab it, do something! I don't mind!"

"Are you crazy, I'm not going to hurt you! God damn it, what am i-"

"GRAY, GET READY!" Natsu's voice rang out, loud and strong, as the fire dragon slayer dashed into view.

Lucy had yet to turn around when her body was suddenly enveloped in a crimson red flame.

Well, hello from Taipei!

Sammie.